What's Your Fear?
by kaaayyytteee
Summary: Era didn't want to spend her life listening to ghosts and spirits drone on and on about their "unfinished business." This seemed like an easy feat before she met Jack Frost. For once, she doesn't want a spirit to go the hell away. M for language, coarse humor and adult/sexual situations. Jack/OC
1. Chapter 1

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* * *

"C'mon, man! I know you can hear me!"

Groaning, I kept on walking down the street. I felt the presence of the spirit walking beside me, trying to get my attention. I ignored the spirit, concentrating on getting to the grocery store.

"C'MON! They tell me that ya' can see us!" The spirit said, running his bloodied hand through his red hair. The spirit was around my age, 18, and was a tall male. His eyes were bloodshot, the dark orbs surrounded by large bruises. However this spirit died, it wasn't a pretty death.

"Ya' gotta help me, broad!" The spirit said, placing his hand on my shoulder. I heard the spirit gasp as his hand didn't faze through my flesh.

"H-how come I can touch you?! This is just proof-YOU CAN SEE ME!" The boy shouted, making my ears burn. I tightened my scarf around my mouth, so no one could see my mouth moving.

"What the hell do you want?" I asked, shooting a glance at the dead spirit.

"Finally! Now, was that so hard?" The spirit cooed, toying with the zipper of his bloodied and torn jacket.

"Goodbye." I huffed, taking a turn and walking across the street. The spirit yelped, following behind me.

"C'mon girl, ya gotta help me!" The spirit cried again, grating my last nerve. With a small scream, which earned me many wary looks, I marched over into the nearest alley. Tugging the scarf from around my lower face, I glared at the spirit.

"What do you want?" I growled, crossing my arms over my chest.

"I need you to help me! My death really wasn't…planned. I-I have money that I left behind for my only buddy in the whole world..but he doesn't know where it is." The spirit said, wincing at my rather loathsome glare.

"So..you just want me to call up this guy and tell him where the money is?" I asked, cocking my head to the side. The spirit sighed, shrugging.

"Well..he doesn't have a phone. We live in a van."

"…So you want me to..?"

"Track down the van, and make sure he's safe and gets my money which is hidden under my mattress in said van."

"Why don't you ask Santa to do that for you for Christmas, 'kay?" I said shortly, turning and walking out of the alley. The spirit screamed, grabbing the back of my jacket and dragged me back into the shadowed alley.

"What the hell is your problem?!" I screamed, aiming my fist for the spirit's face. The spirit was knocked back by my punch, but he just shook his head and stood himself up.

"You're like them ghost whisperers on TV! It's your job to help me!" The spirit cried, fisting his hair.

"I'm unemployed." I grumbled, scowling at the spirit. "I've got my own problems Angle Face, find another Seer."

"That's your name? Seer?" The spirit asked, seemingly calm.

"No, I'm not named Seer. I AM a Seer. I'm Era." I sighed, palming my face in irritation. Today was just not my goddamn day.

"Oh, I'm Max Kanya." The spirit said, bowing low at his waist.

"I suppose it's nice to meet you then, Max." I sighed, attempting to be civil. It's not this poor guy's fault that he's dead and has unfinished business. "When did you die, Angel Face?"

"Last week. I was ah…stepping out on the town and got hit by a car." Max smiled sheepishly, scratching the back of his head.

"Oh, so you're pretty fresh. Does your..ah..family have your…remains?" I asked shoddily. I usually try not to talk to the spirits, that was my older Cousin's job, not mine.

"Yeah, they've got my body buried and everything already." Max didn't seem to upset about the fact that his human body was six feet under a bunch of dirt.

"Was the..funeral to your liking?" I had no idea what to ask. Max seemed unfazed by the question, shrugging his bloody shoulders.

"I suppose, not enough drinking. Too much crying." Max sighed, kicking the ground lightly. Sighing, I checked the clock on my phone quickly.

"Listen…I live next door to my older Cousin, she's a Seer too. She actually likes to help the spirits, so if you stick around with me, I'll bring you to her." I said, shouldering my large bag. Max cheered, jumping up and down.

"LET'S ROLL! Where we going?" Max chirped as I wrapped my scarf back around my lower face.

"The store. It's going to be December soon and I need to get supplies to make Christmas presents." I murmured, stepping back out onto the street. Max laughed, throwing his head back.

"Who are you?-Santa?" Max continued to laugh the whole way to the store.

Sweet God..I should have left him in the alley.

* * *

"You come bearing gifts." Tara, my older cousin, laughed, catching sight of Max as I opened the door to her small house.

"You know the drill. Good luck." I murmured, leaving Max and Tara to talk. I trudged down the sidewalk to my house and headed up to my room, dragging my over loaded shopping bags behind me. I placed the heavy bags down on the ground with a winded sigh and looked out the window.

"GUYS-It's snowing." I called out my open window, hearing Max whoop in joy and Tara laugh at his antics. I started sorting through all the supplies that I'd bought, deciding how I was going to put together my Christmas presents.

"Era, can you come back here for a moment?" Tara called calmly from her window. Smiling, I hauled myself off my bed and down the creaky stairs. The chilly walk outside was cold and windy, so I practically ran into Tara's house. Max was sitting on an arm chair across the coffee table from Tara, who was calmly drinking what looked like apple cider.

"Max here knows exactly where his friend is." Tara smiled happily, taking another sip of cider.

"Great." I said. "That makes your job easier."

"Oh Cupcake, you'll have to bring Max to his friend and be his interpreter." Tara giggled, taking another large mouthful of cider.

"W-what? Why?!" I cried, dropping my shoulders.

"I've got a meeting tonight." Tara said, smiling up at me.

"How far away is this guy?" I cried, looking towards Max.

"He's just at the edge of town. 'Bout half-an-hour away." Max said, smiling brightly.

"I don't understand why you can't go now and be back before this so called 'meeting' of yours." I grumbled out, cocking my hip to one side. Tara smiled, giggling slightly.

"Oh Cupcake, I'm drunk. I've been drinking this hard cider since breakfast." Tara giggled, taking a large gulp of her beverage. Now that she said it, I do notice a strange rosiness to her cheeks.

"Goddamn it."

* * *

"This is a really nice car." Max hummed sarcastically, kicking his feet up onto the dusty dashboard of my car. Huffing, I slapped at his leg, dried blood crusting off and turning my hand a strange shade of rust.

"Your actions don't match your chi." Max yawned, keeping his mucky shoes on my dash.

"My..chi?" I asked, speeding down the road. It was still snowing, the grey pavement slowly turning white in a film of powdery snow.

"Your inner self, your true self: your chi. Your chi isn't like this fake personality you're strutting about." Max said, toying with the radio and air conditioning knobs.

"Don't pretend like you know me." I grumbled, putting the car into third gear with a rough jerk. Max sighed, stretching and putting his hands behind his head.

"But I can see your chi, so I know the truest you." Max said like it was nothing, shrugging his shoulders.

"Max…just, don't screw with me. I'm helping you here." I sighed, pressing the heel of my palm into my temple. I'd talked to spirits before and none of them ever mentioned this chi bullshit. Was Max some kind of special spirit, or could all spirits see someone else's chi?

"Your chi isn't this grumpy." Max whispered, rolling his eyes. I sighed, rolling my eyes and shifted into the next gear.

"Your chi is light, it's like air. You're very emotional, and you're an easy crier." Max kept talking, getting louder and louder. I felt my heart twitch at the truth behind his words, and I knew that he couldn't just make up all that about me..and be completely correct.

"Stop." I grumbled, my knuckles turning white as I gripped the steering wheel tightly.

"Oh no. _Tsk tsk tsk_. Such a warm soul to be covered by such a bitchy exterior."

"Oh go fuck yourself, right in the tinkle taco." I hissed angrily, my knuckles turning white. Max burst out laughing, slapping his knees in mirth. I scowled, turning the wheel as a bend in the road appeared. Just as I opened my mouth to tell the spirit off, my jaw dropped.

"E-E-Era..BLIZZARD!" Max shouted the obvious, as I slammed on the brakes. A massive wave of snow was barreling our way, looking more like an avalanche than a blizzard. I screamed, spinning the car around and began to speed away.

"DRIVE, ERA, DRIVE! WE'RE GONNA DIE!" Max shouted, buckling his seatbelt.

"YOU'RE ALREADY DEAD!" I screamed, frantic as the snow started to creep in on us. Hail began to pelt the car violently, and the once serene landscape was now a snowy death camp. Suddenly, the car jerked to the right and began to spin.

"BLACK ICE! BLACK ICE!" Max yelped, holding onto the car door with one hand and using the other to throw across my chest like a makeshift seat belt. His arm held my upper chest to the seat while at the same time comforting me.

What can I say, the ghost was right. I'm a big cry baby.

"HOLD ON, WE'RE GONNA CRASH!" Max screamed, his dark eyes locked on a thick tree. I stopped screaming, let go of the steering wheel, and clung to Max's arm.

_CRASH._

* * *

**MAX'S POV: **

I never knew that ghosts could pass out. I mean..I knew we could sleep, so yeah, I guess we'd be able to pass out. I woke up in the passenger seat of Era's car, thankfully with Era in one piece next to me. My new Seer friend was unconscious, but the rise and fall of her chest calmed the thought of her joining me in ghostlyhood. Groaning I managed to kick open the crushed door of Era's ancient clunker of a car, and stumbled out into the snow.

"Wow, you and she certainly took a tumble."

Yelping, I turned to the voice. It was a guy, around my and Era's age. He was a spirit like me, since there was no way that he was human. The guy was white, like paper white-out white. His hair was silvery white, and the dude wasn't wearing any shoes.

"Didja hear me? What's wrong? Get a little brain damage?" The guy laughed, leaning against a knotted, wooden staff.

"T-this isn't a time to joke around! My friend-she's hurt!" I huffed, getting up off my knees and dashing to the driver's side of the car. I yanked the door open and quickly unbuckled Era's seat belt. Was I supposed to move her? Had she broken her neck? Carefully, I slid her out of the leather seat and into my arms. Stripping myself of my ratty coat, I laid her down on top of the dirty coat.

"Is she..is she hurt?" The strange spirit asked, worriedly wringing his staff. The fellow spirit didn't seem shocked that I was able to touch her without fazing through; I guess he was too much in shock to think reasonably.

"What do you think?! That goddamn blizzard came out of nowhere, blew us around into a patch of black ice and into a fucking tree." I growled, vaguely recognizing the guy behind me.

When you die, you're introduced to the hidden supernatural secrets of the world, by who-I don't fully know. All us ghouls were told about how fairy tales and fantasy creatures were actually real. Like Santa and all that jazz.

Then it hit me, this guy in front of us.

"You…Jack Frost!" I said, turning and glaring at the other spirit. Frost smirked, going from concerned to egotistical.

"So you've heard of me, from the big guy upstairs obviously." Frost laughed, leaning up against his staff.

"Yeah, you control the weather, which means you caused that big fucking storm back there!" I yelled, pointing towards the destruction left behind by his little happy time fun. Trees and power lines were knocked down, everything that was once tranquil was an absolute wreck.

"This is your fault, Frostie." I said coldly. "You better hope she lives." I hissed, turning back to the unconscious Seer.

* * *

**JACK'S POV: **

I stared down at the fellow spirit in amazement. Why was he saving that girl, and more importantly, how? His hands weren't fazing through her body, and she wasn't fazing through his. The spirit was a rather bloody looking ghost, he obviously died a violent death.

The girl looked to be mortal, but she was hurt. She was bruised pretty badly and there were a few cuts on her brow, dangerously close to her eyes. The girl was short, wearing plain jeans and a navy blue baseball jersey. Her honey brown hair was shoulder length and knotted behind her head in a shabby braid.

"H-how hurt is she?" I managed to ask, seeing the fellow spirit pick her up into his arms.

"She's alive." He said shortly, gathering her into his arms. "I'm Max. This is Era."

"Call me Jack." I said quietly, watching the ghost start to walk away.

"Wait! Where are you going?" I called, pushing off the ground and floating over to them.

"I'm bringing her…somewhere!" Max said, clearly frustrated.

"How? Let's walk her into a hospital, where it looks like she's just nonchalantly floating herself in." I snipped, stopping in front of Max and Era.

"Well, what do you expect me to do?" Max growled, looking up at me with angered eyes. Sighing, I ran my hand through the scruff of my hair.

"Come. Follow me." I ordered, pushing myself off the ground. Max sighed, clutching Era to him and pushing into the air after me.

"Where are we going?" Max called over the wind as we sped higher into the sky.

"We're going to go bring her home. You know where that is, right?" I said, veering higher above the clouds. Max jerked a little behind me, then sped forwards to match my pace.

"C'mon, before hell freezes over." I joked, increasing my speed.

* * *

**ERA'S POV**:

"Ugh, my aching head." I groaned, rolling over in the bed. My eyes snapped open as I snuggled into the warm quilts around me. The last thing I remembered was spinning and sliding towards my imminent doom. I leapt from the bed, sighing when I saw that I was still wearing my clothes, sans boots.

"Woah, Era, sit back down!" Max said floating over to my bedside, helping me sit back down into the cushioned mattress.

"Max, how did we get home?" I whimpered, letting him hold my elbow as he lowered me down into the quilts. Max chuckled, setting himself down on my bed.

"Well, we crashed, Jack Frost came out, he's very sorry by the way, we brought you back here, Tara ditched her work meeting, brought me to make sure my friend got his money, we came back to the house, Tara went to stay with her boyfriend for the week, and we waited for you to wake up." Max rambled off the list of things, using his slightly pale fingers to count.

"Wait..who's we?" I asked, cracking my neck. Max rolled his eyes, plopping himself down on my computer chair.

"Me and Slushie. He feels really bad about the blizzard." Max said, taking one of my pens and trying to balance it on his upper lip while balancing the chair on two legs.

"Slushie?" I echoed, turning my head so my ear was closer to his mouth. Suddenly, a blast of icy air blew in through the opened door. Ice appeared out of nowhere, inching forward on the floor until it was underneath Max. The chair legs seemed to slip on the shimmering ice, knocking Max onto his ass.

"Don't call me Slushie."

I looked up towards the threshold of my bedroom door, and there was another fucking spirit. It was another boy around my age, with snow white skin, silver hair, and pretty ice cyan eyes. The spirit was wearing a dark blue hoodie, brown pants, and no shoes. The spirit was leaning against the door post, a large wooden staff in his hands.

"Hello." The spirit said, cocking his head to his side.


	2. Chapter 2

I wanna say thanks to everyone who reviewed :D  
Thanks to: Kalypso The Great, Cold Colors, Guest, Teddy bear 007, LoverOfRumpelstiltskin, Comidia Del Arte, xX-Pai-Xx, kit-kat, Kazul09, patatachip, Synk, MyraBrown, KazeChi, Nazo-san, and hannah . morales .16

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* * *

"So, you're Jack Frost." I deadpanned, taking a sip of the hot cup of tea that Max had given me after properly introducing the new spirit. The handsome looking winter spirit nodded, leaning against his wooden staff.

"Max says you're name is Era." Jack said, tilting his head. The spirits beautiful neon-cyan eyes bore into everything, they reminded me of radiation, or a glowing nightlight.

"It's nice to know you can repeat what you're told." I joked, cocking my eyebrow at the pale boy. Jack smirked, raising one of his dark grey eyebrows before he swaggered further into the room.

"It's nice to see you can survive a car crash." Jack mocked, plopping down on the foot of my bed. A chill spindled up my spine as the spirit got closer, but it wasn't too bad. I was expecting my bed to become covered in snow or frost, but nothing happened. Wasn't anything he touch supposed to freeze?

"Nice to see that you can cause one." I muttered, cocking my head to the side. "I assume that the snow and ice storm was from you."

"If the snow and ice ain't coming from me, you should worry." Jack smirked, leaning his back against the wooden post of my bed.

"So, what are you doing here? Come to finish me off?" I smirked, not used to having someone with a similar taste in sarcasm around. Jack snorted, shrugging his shoulders.

"Oh, I see how it is. I come here to make sure you're alright, out of the goodness of my heart, and you try to demonize me." Jack mused, not even pretending to be offended.

"Oh, of course, what a gentleman you are." I smiled, laughing at the smug smile that crossed the spirit's face. Even though Frost was cracking jokes, I could see the guilt in his eyes. I wasn't going to bitch him out over the accident, because that's exactly what it was. This poor spirit was just doing his job, we were just driving, and we happened to cross paths at the wrong time. Seeing that I wasn't raining hell-fire on the winter spirit, Max huffed and crossed his arms over his chest and pouted.

"If anyone's the gentleman, it's me. I carried you back here after all." Max pouted, rolling his dark eyes. I sighed, letting a bit of my bitchy exterior slip away.

"Thanks Max, I owe you one. I'm damn sure I'm alive 'cause of you. Expect my first son to be named Max, or my first pet at least." I said, making Max bend over on himself in a loud round of laughter. Jack chuckled along with the bloodied spirit, smirking deviously.

"So..You're some kind of basket case, right? That's how you can see us. You don't seem like one to believe in fairy tales." Jack asked, crossing his frost covered legs underneath him. Frost snagged one of my pillows and placed it behind his back for a cushion against the wooden bed post.

Seems like Frosty over here is getting a little too comfortable.

"I'm a _Seer,_ you little puddle waiting to happen." I huffed, crossing my arms over my chest. "What do fairy tales have to do with anything?" Jack scoffed, rolling his eyes and crossing his arms over his chest. He stared off into the corner of the room for a moment, chewing his bottom lip in deep thought. Jack started to use his fingers to tap out a rhythm on his arms, which sounded a little bit like _'Jingle Bells'_.

"Normally.." Jack started, but then stopped to re-adjust his thoughts. "When someone sees a spirit like me, it's because they believe in them. It's usually children that see spirits like me. They have to believe to see. Same with the others like me, like Santa." Jack murmured, cocking his head to the side.

"I haven't believed in any of those _"spirits"_ since I was a little brat, well, except the Sandman. Everyone knows that he's real." I said, cocking a brow at the thought of myths like Santa and the Tooth Fairy being real spirits. I could tell that Jack knew that I didn't fully believe what he was saying, but he seemed to appreciate that I wasn't trying to deny it.

How could I? The personification of winter is sitting on my bloody bed.

"Well, you're going to have to keep on believing, Era. Or else I'll snow you in." Jack smirked, grabbing a wooden shepherding staff that he had leaned on the wall beside the bed. The white haired spirit only seemed to touch the staff before the light snow outside began to thicken.

"Woah. Seeing is believing I guess." I murmured, staring out the window at the increasing snow. Just then, my phone began to vibrate in its cradle on my bedside table. Groaning, I slid the lock on my phone and pressed it to my throbbing ear.

"Hello?" I sighed, readying myself for the nag-fest that was about to befall me.

"Bailey, where the hell are you? We've been worried sick! You never came to your shift last night, that's not like you! Your cousin called before any of us stormed your house and told us that you hit a stream of black ice and crashed Duff." Mason, my partner from work nagged into the phone.

"I'm doing just fine, Mase." I groaned, rubbing my forehead as I thought about the fate of my poor car, Duff. "A little headache is all, but I'll be ready to go for my shift tomorrow." I managed a small smile.

"Alright, just shake off the stiffs, Bailey, shake it off." Mason managed to laugh, but I could hear the underlying worry in his tone.

"I'll see you tomorrow, Mase. I'll be at the house right on time, make it five minutes early, just for you." I laughed, rolling my eyes as Max and Jack started poking around my room, obviously bored, but listening in on my phone conversation.

"See you, B." Mase said, handing up. Sighing, I hung my cell phone back into its cradle and stretched back against my pillows.

"Who was that?" Max asked, shivering as Jack flicked his shoulders, making frost dance across his upper body. Max shivered, rubbing his upper arms and giving Jack the stink eye.

"A friend from work wondering where I was." I snorted, watching Jack start to flick at some of the snow globes that I had on one of my shelves, making the glass cover in floral frost.

"Tara was tellin' me about your work. It's weird, someone like you being a firefighter." Max said, crossing his arms over his chest and cocking his head to the side. I felt the familiar flicker of irritation light up in my chest. I sat up taller in bed, flaring my nostrils at the bloodied spirit.

"You say that 'cause I'm a chick, or…?" I let the question trail off, making Jack laugh as Max started to stutter over his words.

"Y-you're just so..tiny." Max tried to save himself, shrugging his shoulders.

"I don't think the parents care how tall I am as I'm carrying their kids out of their burning house." I snorted, cocking my head at the bloodied ghost. Frosty snorted, his icy eyes bouncing between Max and I as we playfully fought.

"And you." I said, finally realizing that Frosty over here doesn't look like he's going anywhere. "You don't gotta stick around."

Jack looked confused for a moment, pressing his temple against his wooden crook. His neon blue eyes sharpened and soften, as if he was lost in thought.

"I've never met a Seer before." Frosty mused, clicking his tongue.

"Well now you have." I said, a little uncomfortable about having a random spirit, a random spirit that caused my car to crash, getting himself all comfy-cozy in my home.

"Temper temper, _darling._" Frosty toyed, a sly smirk across his pale face. Rolling my eyes, I huffed in annoyance.

Even if he was cute, he was starting to annoy me.

* * *

**Jack: **

Jack had promised himself that he was only going to stick around long enough to make sure the blonde girl wasn't dead. That was the plan, until Jack realized that the girl could not only see Max, but she could see him as well.

And _damn_, those_ eyes._

And that_ temper_.

Jack wasn't too sure what to think of the girl, Era. She was pretty- there was no denying that. Era was able to clean herself up a little bit once her legs got into working order and she had stopped trying to get him to leave. Era seemed to tire quickly of trying to kick him out of her house. Jack took her silence as her acceptance of his presence in her home.

Not like she had much of a choice on it, it was a little difficult to kick out a spirit.

After taking a quick shower, Era came out of her bathroom in a plume of steam, smelling like grapefruit and brown sugar. Her shoulder length honey brown hair was knotted in a messy bun atop her head, dripping wet. Her kelly green and turquoise blue orbs darted around the room with irritation as she tugged at the hem of her tank top.

"So I guess I'm setting up a bunk for two?" Era asked, crossing her arms over her chest. Max nodded happily while Jack shrugged. Honestly, he was probably going to just snoop around the house as soon as everyone was asleep. When the blonde turned around, flashes of color caught Jack's attention.

"Is that a snowflake?" Jack asked, pushing off the ground to float over towards Era. With his pointer finger, he started to prod at her tatted upper left arm. Jack didn't know what the apple-sized tattoo was.

It looked kind of like a snowflake, placed permanently on Era's pale skin with dark blue ink. It was a large circle, with eight lines pointing away from the center point. At the end of each line was a strange symbol. They looked like twisted letters, but Jack had never these letters before.

"It's a vegvisir, it's a Norse compass." Era said without looking down. "I used to always get lost, so Tara said that my first tattoo should be something I would like and need on my body forever-so a compass. I was gonna go with a GPS, but this looked better."

Jack couldn't help but laugh, floating around the smaller girl. He couldn't believe it, a small girl like Era had a tattoo? When he was human, the only people that had tattoos were 'savages' and criminals, the lower forms of life. The image of little Era as a 'savage' or a hardened criminal made him burst into laughter, so much so that he dropped to the floor on his behind.

Era huffed, holding her chin high before a sly smirk slid across her cheeks.

"I would know the_ perfect_ first tattoo for you-something you'd like and need."

"Oh really?" Jack tried to stop laughing, hunched over on the ground.

"Oh really. _A brain_." Era smirked, watching as Jack stopped laughing to give her a dirty look. "Or maybe a pair of.._well..you know."_

Jack snaked his arms across his chest and had a huge pout on his face. Era started to laugh, leaving the room to grab some sheets to set up the guest room for the two spirits. Max laughed, following the blonde down the hall. Jack snorted, giving the two an evil glare as they left the room before a small smile crossed his face.

He kinda liked her.


	3. Chapter 3

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* * *

Continuously waking up at five in the morning was going to break me one day.

Moaning in exhaustion, I tugged on my sleek black Under-Armor leggings and black cotton tee-shirt. I tried to be as quiet as possible so I wouldn't wake up the two snoring spirits next door. I have no clue how those two managed to fall asleep, both of them were snoring like grizzly bears.

Pulling on a fleecy, red zip up jacket, I went downstairs to try and chug down some crappy coffee before going to work. My poor car, Duff, was going to be in the shop for a few more days, so I was going to borrow Tara's giant Ford Expedition. I grabbed the keys she had lent me and got out of the house without disturbing the slumbering spirits.

I'm pretty sure I could run over half the town with this massive car before anyone could even try and stop me.

Getting into the seat was a quest in itself.

Careful of my half-awake state, I slowly drove to the firehouse with the music blasting. The screeching sound of Country calmed me and kept my attention, keeping me awake long enough so I wouldn't have two accidents in two days.

I pulled up to the brick firehouse five minutes before six, just like I promised Mace. Parking the massive car, I managed to drag my exhausted ass into the house.

"Aye-Windy!" Shep Hart, our engine's technician greeted me with a nickname as I closed the door behind me. Shep Hart was a good guy, if anything but a little too friendly and eager to please. He was tall, 6'2, with bright blonde hair and soft minty-green eyes. All in all, very handsome.

"Hey Hart, calm here?" I asked softly, sensing the sleepy atmosphere of the house as I grabbed my pair of fire resistant pants. I slipped the light brown and yellow striped pants on over my leggings right there in the kitchen before tugging off my shoes and jamming on my boots.

"Most definitely! Chief is up in the meeting room, and the only other ones here are Chau and Lottie, up in the nest." Shep said, nodding towards the stairs. The nest was the room lined with bed for when we need to sleep off excruciatingly long shifts, and Chau and Lottie were currently on their tenth hour.

"You gonna head up there?" Shep asked, pouring some coffee into a cup for me, already knowing my answer.

"You know if I go up there and sleep, it's gonna be ten times harder to wake up." I said, accepting the coffee with a small grin. The second cup of the day was always the best, since Shep was the one to make it instead of me. I wasn't a fan of the taste of coffee, but nothing else could wake me up.

"Salt, Tink, and Mase will be coming soon." Shep said, adding more coffee grinds to the machine to brew. God knows how much coffee that Noland, also known as Salt, could toss back on an early morning.

"Sounds good, Shep." I said before swallowing down the bitter brew with a slight grimace.

"If you hate that so much-why drink?"

I flinched a little at the new voice, turning my eyes but not my head to stare at the spirit beside me. One glance at Shep told me that he couldn't hear the spirit.

Thank Gods that one of us in the room is normal.

I cocked my brow at the silver haired spirit before nodding in Shep's direction. Frosty must understand that I can't talk to him in front of my housemate, he'd think I'm insane. Well..Shep might be nice enough to pretend to see Frosty too, just to make me happy.

"Ahhh..I see." Jack mused, his cyan eyes landing on Shep's back. Shep was at the sink, rinsing out old coffee cups, trying in vain to scrub the coffee stains out.

"Humans are so strange." Jack said in a bored tone and then floated out of his chair. The winter spirit floated above the table, before hanging upside down, his face inches from mine. The front door opened, and an exhausted looking Tink trudged in.

Tanner, nicknamed Tink, was our station's engineer. Half of the time the poor guy was exhausted, and the other half he was busy being socially awkward. But, he was a nice guy. His short black hair was always brushed smooth, his black eyes were never bloodshot red, and his olive skin was always clean-which is better than what I can say for most of the men in his house. Tink waved at us before lumbering off upstairs for a few more winks of sleep.

"I was expecting a fire house to be more…exciting." Jack said, frowning and furrowing his eyes as Tink marched up the creaky stairs. I gave him a blank stare as I brought my mug to my lips for another drag of bitter coffee.

"That smells so strange." Jack commented, sniffing in my cup's direction. I rolled my eyes, glancing at the clock.

"Shep?" I asked, peering around the spirit to look at the blonde man. Shep turned, his head perked up like a happy puppy. I guess it wasn't too often that I started conversations, and the blonde always perked up whenever I did.

"Do we have any of those cinnamon buns left?" I asked, reaching across the table to grab some fake creamer. Shep nodded, hopping towards the fridge to grab me one.

"Thanks, Shep." I said, as he handed me the warmed up pastry on a paper towel.

"No problem, Windy, thanks for making them for us." Shep sighed, a huge grin on his face.

"S'not a problem." I said, pouring a handful of the small creamers into my coffee before I could ravage my cinnamon bun.

"Huh, never imagined you as a baker." Frosty taunted, lounging in the air like he was an emperor: laying on his side, facing me, legs crossed and extended, his arms crossed behind his head, and his wooden crook leaning up against the back of my chair.

"Too..rough and tumble." Jack laughed, making me narrow my eyes in dislike. "I wasn't so sure that you were a girl before I saw your hair. And what's with the nickname, "Windy", sounds stupid to me."

I told myself not to listen to his taunting, pretending like he wasn't even there as I started to eat and drink. Frosty seemed to sigh in exasperation and begin to float slowly around the room.

"Gut' mornink." Lottie's distinct German accent wafted from the bottom of the stairs. Shep pepped up, happily greeting the German native before offering her a cup of coffee.

"Tank you, Sheep." Lottie said, accepting the steaming cup and sitting down beside me.

"Woah, and I was calling you manly! Look'it this lady-she must drink straight steroids." Jack taunted, eyeing the six-foot-one German from his spot floating beside my shoulder.

"Good morning, Lottie. Sleep good?" I asked, still ignoring the winter lunatic. Lottie scoffed, pulling her knotted blonde hair into a bun and rolling her periwinkle blue eyes.

"Zat Chau, he shleeps like zee animal." Lottie scowled, chugging half of her whole mug in one pull.

"At least he probably doesn't look like one." Frosty said, watching the blond. That comment made my blood boil, even though Lottie couldn't hear it. Despite being strong, Lottie was motherly, kind, and very sensitive. She knew that she's taller and beefier than the average woman, and when someone taunts her, she laughs it off, but deep inside it hurts her feelings.

I was going to pop him one in the throat later.

"Well, I got my beauty sleep, after all, animals need their hibernation." Chau said playfully, wrapping his arm around Lottie's shoulders and giving her a rough noogie.

"Chau! Shtap zis khildz play! I ahsk you to shtap every day und it never does!" Lottie barked, waving the smaller Asian man away from her. Chau laughed, stealing himself a cup of coffee and sat down.

"So is this is what it's like here all day? You lot sitting around drinking coffee and fighting? Borin-" Jack started to complain, just as the alarm sounded. Leaping to full force, the four of us (five if you count the Snowy Wonder) dashed out to the garage, pulling on all our gear as we went.

"I god zee 'veel." Lottie said, being the first to get her gear on and jumping into the driver seat of our fire truck. Just in time, Chief came dashing into the garage, gear on and prepared for action.

"Mase isn't here!" Chau yelped, counting heads as the firefighters piled into the truck.

"We'll have to go without him." Tink said softly, gingerly climbing into his beloved truck. No other words were spoken as we assembled quickly and entered the truck. I was the last one in, and was about to close the door behind me.

"Wait! Save me a seat!" I heard Frosty shout as he flew towards the truck. Snorting, I slammed the door shut. Apparently the Albino Wonder couldn't stop himself in time and ended crashing into the truck, making a small bang, which luckily couldn't be heard over the alarm.

Peering out of the window as we pulled away, I wiggled my fingers goodbye at the pouting spirit.

* * *

Jack Frost pouted, sitting on the cold side walk as he watched the bright red fire truck drive away down the street. Huffing, he pulled himself up and picked up his crook. How dare that little rat close the door on him! And to think he was willing to follow her to work and try to show her a good time.

Thinking back on when the alarm hit, Jack never thought someone so small could move to quick. In the blink of an eye, Era and all her co-workers had sprung from the kitchen, pulling on strange, heavy looking clothes and equipment. What really made Jack's jaw drop was when he saw Era swing and strap a rather heavy looking air tank onto her back.

_Forget her_, if she wants to go off and have fun without him, _he didn't care_.

Choosing to walk instead of fly, Jack stomped down the street, cars, mailboxes, and even some unfortunate people becoming covered in a dusting of frost as he passed. He had been woken up by the sound of Era leaving early this morning, and unable to fall back asleep, he decided to start working a bit earlier than usual.

Hours were spent creating frost patterns that delicately danced across a multitude of surfaces. Cold breezes and snow were created, turning the small city into a picture on a Christmas card. By the time the early afternoon rolled around, Jack was gliding through the wind towards Era's home.

She would be in a better mood after work, he assured himself that was the truth. The blonde wouldn't be grumpy or ignore him like she had to in front of her co-workers. Jack understood that Era couldn't speak to him in public, especially with "non-believers" around, she'd look insane.

"Ah..there's a little Firebug." Jack laughed as his feet touched the snow covered drive way. Era was crawling out of her cousin's massive truck, almost stumbling to the ground.

"Frosty, I told you to scram." Era scoffed, jingling the keys as she unlocked the front door. The aged wood had swollen due to absorbing water, making opening and shutting the door quite the annoyance.

"True, true." Jack tittered, floating into the house behind Era. The blond didn't slam the door in his face again, so Jack followed her in. Jack liked Era's house, which was strange. He didn't really have a taste for homes, he preferred a nomadic life.

Era's home was small, but colorful and warm. It smelt like soft citrus fruits and drier sheets, a strange combination that made Jack's nose tingling with warmth. The walls were painted white, pale green, and some a popping light teal. Knickknacks, glass containers filled with myriads of things, flowers, and books littered the rooms. Everything was messy, yet organized at the same time.

"Why do you fly everywhere?" Era asked, facing away from Jack as she made her way into the kitchen. The blonde hefted herself onto the kitchen bar, her feet swinging.

"It's not so much flying, it's more..gliding on air and wind currents." Jack hummed, taking a seat in the tall chair-stool next to her.

"Why are you barefoot?" She asked, her elbow on the counter top and her cheek smushed up against her raised fist. Jack began to slowly tap his fingers against the smooth, green faux-marble counter top.

He didn't understand why Era was asking seemingly random question, but he'd _humor_ her-it wasn't like he had anyone to talk to. Jamie was off at school, North was working on the slowly coming Christmas, Bunny was pre-planning Easter, Sandy was busy off wherever it was nighttime (Japan, Jack supposed), and Tooth was almost constantly busy with her teeth (especially now, so soon after Halloween).

"Have you seen the shoes that North wants me to wear?" Jack laughed, but slightly slivering at the thought of those ridiculous looking blue-elf slippers North wanted him to wear. Era let out a strange giggle, grinning awkwardly. She clearly had no clue what he was talking about, but she was attempting to humor him.

"There you two are, I was wondering where you were." Max said, rushing down the stairs. His gruesome appearance had been washed away, all the blood had been flushed away from his pale skin.

"Hey! Looks like a shower can work miracles." Era laughed, the tension slipping from her shoulders. Jack furrowed his brows in curiosity as Era relaxed-_when had she become nervous?_ Max's red hair was now fresh, his dark brown eyes didn't have the same redness as before.

"Ah yes, and a lot of beauty sleep." Max joked, pretending to flick some hair over his shoulder. "Where were you guys?"

"I was at work, my Frosty _pain in the ass_ happened to follow me." Era muttered, shooting Jack a slightly annoyed look.

"Ahhh, so you're staying, Slush?" Max asked, turning his attention to the youngest Guardian. Jack cocked his head in silent question, was Max leaving? Jack hadn't really put too much thought into sticking around. Sure, he owed Era_-he almost killed her_. He'd be fine with popping in and out, but there was no way that he could 'stick around'. He had winter to bring, snowball fights to start, snow days to create.

"Are you leaving?" Era asked, furrowing her brows.

"I'll be in and out. I have to go up _there_ for a bit." Max said, raising his eyebrows and nodding to the ceiling. "My parents, grandparents, and everyone are waitin' on me. I'll be back though."

"You're leaving, but not for long." Era asked, hopping down from the bar stool and holding her arms out.

"Yes ma'me! More of a 'see you later' than a 'goodbye'." Max laughed, wrapping the smaller girl in a tight hug.

"Thank you, for everything you've done for me." Max said softly, smiling down at Era. Era sniffled, her arms tight around Max's torso.

"I didn't do anything for you, all I did was crash us." She laughed, her voice muffled by Max's chest.

"But you found me, and you meant to help me with everything you've got-before Slushie over here came in." Max laughed, winking at Jack.

"Remember what I said, 'bout your chi. Even though I've only known you a short time, I know the real you." Max said, ruffling the blonde's hair before turning to Jack.

"And you-you don't let her out of your sight, Slushie." Max laughed, slugging Jack on the shoulder playfully.

"Hey, I'll try." Jack laughed, turning to smile at Era. Era blushed, her mismatched eyes lighting up and a small smile lighting her face.


End file.
